'Shaitan is not a feel-good movie'

His first film Aamir won him lots of praise, but Rajeev Khandelwal's second film never released. Now he is starring in Bejoy Nambiar's Shaitan, due to release on Friday. 

He speaks to Patcy N about the film, how much, or little, marriage has changed him, and what kind of shaitani he has been up to.

You have a liking for off-beat cinema?

Shaitan is not an off-beat film. Aamir was the most off-beat film that I could have done, yet it kept the audience in its grip and ran to packed houses. Cinema is cinema. If it runs to packed houses and audiences appreciate it and enjoy the experience, then it is great cinema.

Off-beat means something that has not been attempted before. I am very happy and glad that I was part of that film which broke new ground. Why work on the beaten track? Make your own path.

For me being part of a project like Shaitan or Aamir or my forthcoming film Soundtrack, which will release after a couple of months, is a very satisfying experience and I feel extremely happy to be part of this project.

What tempted you sign Shaitan?

To be very honest, it started off with Bejoy's passion. I like working with people who are passionate about their work. Secondly, when Anurag stepped into the project, it was a brilliant combination. Anurag is a good filmmaker who loves cinema. If he is spearheading the project, if he is the producer of the movie, then it makes my life very easy. I have always wanted to work with producers who are also filmmakers, who understand the craft of filmmaking, and who better than Anurag Kashyap.

The story, of course, is very different and it was a very challenging script. My first reaction was 'will this work?' But as I kept reading the script my faith said 'this will work if Bejoy does proper justice to the subject', which he did, far beyond my expectations.

Why do you think the audience will come to watch such a dark film?

I wouldn't call Shaitan a dark film but it is a real film. What we are showing is what happens around us all the time. This is not a feel-good, dream-world kind of movie; it is something that you can relate to, something that happens around us.

How far is it true that Shaitan is a rehash of Anurag Kashyap's Paanch?

No, I don't think so. Anything is written these days. Shaitan does not have shades of any other film. I don't think it is a rehash or even loosely inspired by Paanch. It was written a year-and-a-half ago by Bejoy.

So, then, what is it about?

Shaitan is about five characters who represent today's youth. It is about the demons in us and around us which we fail to identify. We fall prey to those demons, some of us fight back, some of us give up, and some of us fail to even put up a fight.

My character is fighting the demons within himself, his anger and his attitude, and how he is a victim of it and how he fights back his demons and how things fall in place for him.

Can you relate to your character?

Yes, I relate to my character. It is a believable character; there are certain characters that I can immediately associate with. My character doesn't know how to be vocal about his emotions, be it his love for his newly wedded wife or how to talk professionally to his seniors. You cannot call him reticent, but he doesn't know how to articulate his emotions, which is how I am in my real life. I don't think I can go to my wife and talk volumes about how much I love her. I hope she understands that, I hope it reflects in my attitude.

What was the atmosphere on the sets like?

The energy level was always high because when you have a film like this and characters like these there is bound to be a lot of masti and noise on the sets. Yes, they did paint the town red with their antics. Our director was the biggest shaitan. I say we all have a shaitan in us, we all have twenty-four hours in a day, but Bejoy has 30 hours in a day, and those six hours is the time when he does his shaitani.

Tell us about the shaitani that you have done in your personal life. Do you regret any shaitani that you did?

I have not been an ideal kid; in fact, I have been a very Shaitan-type kid and I am even now. I have plenty of stories to tell. I lived in a boys' hostel which girls were not supposed to enter. I once sent two girls to the rector's room - I told them the rector was asking for them. Then we went and told the rector that two girls were looking for him. When he got near his room, suddenly he sees about 30 guys standing over there and whispering and murmuring, which became quite an incident. I was caught and a note was sent to my father. I was really scared. We found out from the peon when the note was posted, went to the post-box, broke open the box and removed the letter!

I was never a destructive kid; even today, my pranks are harmless. I broke my nose when someone played a prank on me it's still crooked. My friends told me that all the girls are looking so dive into the swimming pool from the top. I was a good diver and swimmer in my college days, but I tried to imitate one of the dives that I had seen on a sports channel, to impress the girls, and ended up breaking my nose!

You recently married and your wife is not from the industry. How has married life changed you?

The only thing that has changed is that now when I look at girls, I don't think of anything! Yes, the heart still beats faster when I see a pretty girl, you still want to impress girls, but that's it. Nothing else has changed much, except that I belong to someone; there is a line that I can't cross. I am faithful to someone, I am committed to someone.

But there have been some cosmetic changes in my life. I share my house, my room, kitchen with someone now. The house is always in a mess. Nothing is mine anymore. There is someone around me so I don't get my own time. You have to share every bit of the time you get. But Manjari is pretty chilled out. She is not the type who demands attention all the time. She is supportive of a lot of things in my life. I am happy that I have someone like her in my life.

How and where did you meet Manjari?

I met her in Mumbai. I've known her older sister for four years but I had never met Manjari. I finally met her at a party - she was doing a Mithun Chakraborty dance when I saw her and I knew she is the one. I was attracted to her and later fell in love with her. We dated for one-and-a-half years before we got married.

What is your forthcoming film Soundtrack about?

Soundtrack is about a guy who comes from a small town and makes it big in Mumbai in the music industry and how with success he gets power, money, women, wine It's about how suddenly you lose the plot when you are hit by tornado-like success, you are a national hero, and how you go wrong after that and things fall apart. Then you fight and make a comeback and resurrect your confidence. It will release in August.

What about Peter Gaya Kaam Se?

I have no clue about the film. We made it and now it is with UTV. I have not heard anything from them as of now. I have forgotten about it and moved on a year ago. I am a very detached person even with my films. On Friday Shaitan will release and by Sunday I will be through with Shaitan and walk ahead.